Built-in folding table



July 3, 1928.

1,675,953 D. E. NICHOL Y BUILT-IN FOLDING TABLE Filed Nov. 24, 1924 5Sheets-Sheet 2 July 3, 192s.

D. E. NlCHOL BUILT-IN FOLDING TABLE Filed Nov. 24, 1924 d w a m QL am a,4

July 3, 1928.

' D. E. NlcHoL BUILT-IN FOLDING TABLE Filed. Nov. 24, 1924 5Sheets-Sheet :J1/Wenko@ IZEJVLUM/ Patented JulyV 3, 1928.

NITED STATES DORSEY E. NICHOL, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

BUILT-IN FOLDING TABLE.

Application filed November 24, 1924. Serial No. 751,907.

This invention relates to built in disappearing furniture and has forits primary object to provide a piece of furiture, such for example, asa t-able which is especially adapted for use in small apartments,dwellings and the like.

A further object of the invention is to provide a. table or othersimilar piece of furniture which may be folded up, when not in use, tooccupy a position in an opemng in a standard partition wall and then sopositioned, will have the appearance of an ordinary door.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a special slab forclosing the opposite side of the opening in the partition wall, whichslab, while being relatively thin, will have sufficient strength tosupport a plurality of folding chairs, which may be hung on hooksembedded in said slab behind the table door.

llVith the above and other objects in View, which will appear as thedescription proceeds, the invention consists in the novelV details ofconstruction and combinations and arrangements of parts, more fullyhereinafter described and particularly pointed out yin the appendedclaims.

Referring' to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of thisspecification in which likenumerals designate like parts in all theviews.

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic perspective viewnof a portion of a wallshowing a table constructed in accordance rwith the present i inventionin place therein, the parts being shown in their inoperative positions.

Figure 2' is a similar view showing the table in open or'operativeposition.

Figure 3 is an elevational view, partly broken away of the wall asviewed from the opposite side to that shown in Figures 1 and 2, showingthe metal reinforced ceramic slab which is employed to close the rearside of the opening through the partition.

Figure 4 is a transverse vertical sectional view taken approximately onthe plane indicated by the line 4 4 of Figure 3, looking in thedirection of the arrows.

Figure 5 is a horizontal cross sectional view taken approximately on theplane indicated by the line 5-5 of Figure 3, looking down.

Figure 6 is a top plan view partly in section of the table in its openposition,

Figure 7 is a perspective view of a separate table member which may beused in conjunction with the main member, when a larger table isdesired.

Figures 8, 9 and 10 are diagrammatic plan views showing differentpositions which the separate member, shown in Figure 7, may occupyrelative to the main member.

Figure'll is a fragramentary detail sectional view showing' a springarrangement which may be employed to partially counterbalance the weightof the main table section.

Figure 12 is a horizontal cross sectional view similar to Figure 5,showing a slightly modified form of the invention wherein an ordinarydoor is substituted for the ceramic slab for closing the rear side ofthe opening for the partition, and

Figure 13 is a fragmentary elevational view of the table members showingone form of lock which vmay be employed to fasten the parts together sothatthe ldevice be used as an ordinary door, if desired.

In the said drawings, the numeral 1 indicates generally a partitionwall, comprising the studding 2, lath 3 and plaster 4, which isconstructed in the usual and well known manner. These partition wallsare ordinarily built in standard thickness, such as 6 or 8 inches, andthe present invention particularly contemplates the provision of a tablewhich maybe built into a wall of the 6 inch thickness at the same time,leaving a suflicient space behind the table when in its inoperativeposition to accommodate at least four folding chairs.

Y In the present instance, the opening in the partition is indicated bythe numeral 5, within which ris preferably located, a standard doorframe 6, the said frame is preferably provided with the jambs 7 and withthe facings 8, upon one face of the wall, while on the opposite face,the facings may be omitted.

Assuming that the partition wall is located between the dining room andthe kitchen of an apartment or dwelling, the facings S will be locatedupon the dining room side, while upon the kitchen side, they will beomitted. Upon this latter` or kitchen side, the opening 5 through thepartition, will be closed by a slab 10 of concrete or other similarplastic material, which slab is preferably formed separately andintroduced into the opening as a unit. The said slab preferablycomprises a layer of concrete 11 approxiporting members surrounding thesaid opening :as will be readilyv understood. 'The said vslab 10 will beplaced in position within the opening before ythe plaster 4 is appliedto the kitchen side of the partition and when [this 'plasteiwis vsoapplied, it will cover up they overlapping ledges of the metallicreinforcing member, so -aslto produce a substantially `liat continuoussurface bet-Ween the plasterportion of theslab which may vbe painted,paperedlor otherwise ornament'ed as is desired.

H4On the .dini-ng room side of the partition, rthere ispositioned-within .the door' frame 6, a standard or stock door whichdoor however has been divided horizontally, as indicated .at 16-.and thelower portion 17 thereof is hingedly secured to the door frame 6 asbythe hinges 18. The upper portion 19 of the said door is in turnhinged-to the lower portion 17, as by the hinges 20 which if desired,may be of the well known concealed type. A dummy hinge 21 is prefer-.ably secured to the upper portion 19 of the door 15, adjacent. t-heupper `end thereof, in order to .carry out the appearance of a `standarddoor, when Ithe parts are in their inoperative positions, ,as shown inFig. 1. 'llliisdummy hinge is preferably secured to `the member19, butis not secured to the door frame so that it performs no actual function.

i A door knob 22 and a lock 23 (see Fig. 2)

are provided to further carry out the appearvance :of van .ordinary doorand also to retain .the Vmember 19 in its raised position, as will bereadily understood. y

1n vorder to support the outer end ofthe member 19, whenin its lower oroperative position, there is provided, a rpair of legs ,24 which arepreferably slidably mounted in bores or recesses 26 formed in the member19 and extend 'downwardly from its top `as .seen in Figure 1. These saidlegs, las bestshown in Figure 6, .preferably take the form of rods ofmetal or wood, at one Aend of which is :provided with cushioned feet 25while the other end is pivotally connected 'as lat 27v to the shortmember 28 which is ,provided with the Venlarged head or collar 29fitting. slidably within the bore 26.- A

. metallic plate .3() .is setinto a recess 31, providedy in the end offthe door surrounding the ,bore 2G and serves asa .stop to been- Thissaid metallic*reinforcing'inember kgag'ed by the enlarged head or collar29 to limit the outward movement of therlegs, as

jvill be rclear from Figure 6.

.asmuch the slab 10 is approximately one inch in thickness, and sincethe standard stock door, such as 15 is approximately only 13/8 or 11/2inches in thickness, there is provided between the two, sufficient spaceto amply--accominodate several of these chairs. The mode of using thepresent invention will be clear from the foregoing, it being understoodthat when it is desired to use 4the table, the lock or latch 23 may bemanipulated, 'by the knob 22 and the upper section 19 of the door easilypulled down -on Vits hingesV 20 from the position lshown in Figure 1, tothat shown in Figure 2.

The legs 24 are withdrawn from their re-Y `.be readily withdrawn fromthe interior-.of

the recess behind the door and the stable used as a dining table or forany other de- .siredmpurposel When the invention is employed in thepartition wall between the dining -room and kitchen, it is .desirable toprovide in the slab 10 a serving window or opening, vsuch as 37 (seeFigures 2, 3 and 4). This opening may be formed in the slab at the timeit is initially constructed and it may be surrounded by a suitableframe38 in which is pivotally mounted the serving table or door 39. Thesaid serving table is 'horizontally pivoted as indicated at 40, so thatwhen lowered, it will occupy a horizontal `posi-tion with Vone end flushwith the end of the member-19, as shown in Figure 4. A :suitable springcatch 41 maybe provided for maintaining this ldoor in its closedposition when desired.

It `may -sometimes happenk that it is desired .to have a table ofsomewhat larger dimensions than it is possible to have with -only thesection 19 land with this .in mind, I have provided an additional member45 shown indetail in Figure 7. This section comprises a iiat member,preferably .of rectangular shape which is provided with any suitablemeans -for engaging the member 10 as for example, the pins 46, which maybe received in t-he holes or recesses 47, formed in the end of the saidmember 19. The recesses 48 are preferably formed in said section 45 ltovaccommodate the projecting portions 28 of the leg 24 as will be readilyunderstood `and the .said section'is itself provided with a pair of legs49 which are hinged thereto as at 50 and which are provided with thecushioned feet 51 as is shown .in Figure 7. Suitable means, such as thehooks 52 have been provided for retaining the legs 49 in their foldedpositions, when this member is not in use.

It is contemplated thatnormally this additional section willb'epositioned at the endv of the sections 19 as is diagrammaticallyindicated in Figure 8. However the dimensions of some rooms or theposition of certain furniture therein may make it undesirable to solocate the section 45 and to overcome this, I provide recesses 53, inthe sides of the section 19 for receiving the dowel pins 46, so thatsaid section 45 may assume the positions diagrammatically illustrated inFigures 9 and 10, if so desired. It will be understood that whenarranged as shown in Figure 10, that the lower portion 17 of the door 15has been swung back on its hinges 18, so that the section 19 occupies aposition adjacent the partition wall instead of at right angles thereto.

In order to partially counter-balance the weight of the section 19,there ,may be provided, if desired, suitable counter-balance springs,such as are illustrated in Figure 11. These springs 54 may be'positionedin recesses 55 and 56, formed in Sections 17 and 19 respectively and arepreferably of the coiled tension type, so that when the section 19 islowered, they will tend to pull it back to its raised position as willbe readily understood.l

In some instances, it may be desirable, instead of employing the slaby10, to permanently close one side of the opening 5 to use in lieuthereof, a standard stock door. such as 60, shown in Figure 12. Thisdoor will be hinged in the frame 6 in the usual manner and will bepaneledv on both sides, whereas the door 19 will of course be paneledonly on one side. so as to provide a flat upper surface for table use.

In other instances, it may be wished to omit this door 60, as well asthe slab 1.0, so as to provide a doorway of the usual size between thetwo adjacent rooms. In this event, the members 17 and 19 may be fastenedtogether by suitable locks 61, (see Fig ure 13), similar to the wellknown desk locks, coacting with keepers 62, to the end that the twomembers may be swung as a unit on the hinges 18 and thereby serve as adoor. It is obvious that when so constructed, they may also be used as atable by disengaging the locks 61 from the keepers 62 through theinstrumentality of keys inserted in the keyholes 63, and the swingingthe upper member 19 down to horizontal position, as above described.

It will thus be seen that the invention provides a construction wherebyit is possible to have a folding table built into a standard 6 inchpartition wall and which when not in use, will not project into the roomto take up space, and be unsightly, but which on the other hand, will beflush with the wall, and will have substantially the appearance of anordinary door. Furthermore, due to the saving in space accomplished bythe peculiar construction, it is possible to conceal a plurality offolding chairs, benches, or the like within the partition behind thetable; also that by employing the additional member 45 in any of itsvarious described positions, it is possible to quickly double the areaof the table top to accommodate additional persons.

It will also be noted that substantially all of the elements enteringwith the invention are of standard stock construction, thus enabling thedevice to be constructed and installed at a minimum cost, both as tolabor and material.

It is obvious that those skilled in the art may vary the details ofconstruction as well as the precise arrangement of parts, withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention and it is therefore notwished to be limited to the above disclosure, except as may be requiredby the claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new is z- 1. Thecombination with a standard'partit-ion wall having an openingtherethrough, of a door vertically hinged in said opening substantiallyflush with one face of said wall, said door being transversely dividedto provide an upper section adapted to fold outwardly and downwardly toconstitute a table; and a horizontally pivoted serving door mountedsubstantially flush with the other face of said wall and adapted to beswung to a horizontal position substantially flush with said tablesection when the latter is lowered.

2. The combination with a standard partition wall having an openingtherethrough, of a door vertically hinged in said opening flush with oneface of said wall, said door being transversely divided to provide anupper section adapted to fold outwardly and downwardly to constitute atable; a relatively thin plastic slab set in said opening flush with theother face of said wall; and a serving door horizontally pivoted in saidslab, adapted to be swung to a horizontal position substantially inalignment with the table portion of said door, when the latter is in itshorizontal position.

3. The combination with a standard partition wall having two spacedsurfaces provided with registering openings, of a door vertically hingedin one of said openings, substantially llush with one of said surfaces,said door having hinged upper and lower sections, the former of which isadapted to swing .outward-ly and lownwardly to "a :substantiallyhorizontal position to constitute .a ft-able.; a relativelythnj-plasto;slab set 4in the other ofssacl, openings,1 'Hush with #cheother surface y.of said Wall, said' slab hav'ngfa serv* -lng openlngtherelni; .ancla normally Vertloal serving door horzontzilly pivotedintermedmte ltsends 1n saldl'servlng opening, adapt- :ed sto fbe swung.to Ya horjzontal posltlon 1n fits- -pvots serving, in the horizontalVposition of the parts, .to bridge'the space between the Wall surfaces,and, with 4said table portion,

to present zzn-unbroken horizontal support- 15 ing surface. Y

In testimony 'whereof I affix my signature` Y DORSEY E. 'NICHOL

